Blood Like Wine
by Silver Renagade
Summary: The Irkens have finally one, and now Dib is the last human alive. With the help of a peculiar Irken, can he find the Invader he longs to see so much? Or will there love be lost among the stars? [ZADR] Invader Zim belongs to Jhonen Vasquez. Mir is mine.


**SUMMARY: **The Earth, his home, slowly drifted from view as his solitary ship left orbit. He would never return. The Irken had won.

Earth was lost.

**Chapter 1**

His head was bowed over his Claparious, the purple liquid fizzling idly as his lithe fingers chased an ice cube around in the drink with his straw. It was his third drink that night and still the memory wouldn't leave his troubled mind.

Somber amber lifted, gazing at the bartender, watching as the Vortian mixed a customer's drink. He was still getting used to the aliens. It was hard not to pull his pistol and put a cap in their heads. Frowning, his gaze fell back to his drink as he slowly slipped his fingers around the glass. He downed the beverage, his face twisting in disgust at the flavor. Yet another drink he didn't enjoy.

Reading over the menu, he signaled to the bartender, waiting for him to finish what he was mixing. The Vortian sauntered over to him.

"What can I get for you?" The man at the bar glanced over the menu and sighed.

"Something strong enough to knock my brains out...but could you make it a little sweeter this time?" He was afraid he'd never find a drink he could stand. It was all so...different for him. He didn't dare touch any of the food they sold there. Most of it moved.

"Alright." The bartender left to make his order, leaving the man digging in his pocket for his wallet. He had mugged some alien a few alleyways away so he had enough of whatever currency they used, he just had to calculate how much it would take. Reading over the coins, he furrowed his brows as he realized he had no clue what any of it said. Sighing, he figured he'd just ask.

He eyed the pink liquid cautiously as the new cup was placed in front of him. It was decorated with what looked like green whip cream and red sprinkles and had a few sparklers sticking out from it...or at least what looked like sparklers. Removing the sparking sticks of color, he tried to find a place to put them, favoring holding them in one hand. He took a careful sip through the straw, tasting the drink before his eyes widened slightly.

"Holy shit this is good." Blowing out he sparklers, he set them down and took the cup in one of his gossamer hands, taking his time while drinking the sweet liquid. It tasted like a slightly bitter strawberry, which surprisingly was delicious. Glancing at the bartender, he asked for the name of the drink, downing the rest of it.

"It's a Aquistery." The bartender replied, cleaning off the bar with a ragged towel and watching his odd looking guest. "You sure are different...where are you from? The Savost Cosmos?" Most binary beings who only wore skin were from there. But then again, they didn't wear such odd uniforms as the boy in front of him was.

"No, no...I'm from the...Milky Way," the boy replied cautiously, "and the planet Earth." The bartender's eyes grew wide, a hand reaching out to clasp over the boy's lips, hushing him.

"You escaped? Don't tell anyone!" The bartender cautioned. "Anyone could be working for the Empire. You don't want to know what they do to escapees." He shook his head solemnly, pulling his hand away again. "So, are there any other drinks I can get for you?" The boy stared at him before shaking his head lightly. "Alright, so that'll be 713 monies." Holding out his hand, he showed the bartender his coins.

"I'm not sure how to count these..." He frowned as the bartender leaned forward to glance at the coins. The Vortian quickly snatched up three coins, giving him four smaller ones in return. Getting up, he headed out the front door of the bar, shoving the rest of the coins into his pocket. That's when he ran into a very tall and lanky alien. He glanced up at the sneering face, about to give an apology.

"Why don't you watch where you're going?" The alien spat in his face and before he knew it, he had thrown a fist at the alien. Connecting with his jaw, it gave a satisfying crack as something in the extraterrestrial's jowl snapped or shattered. Backing up, he dashed out the door before the space man could regain coherency, favoring a dark alleyway somewhere down the road to hide in.

"Stupid, stupid, STUPID!!" He slapped a hand to his forehead, cursing himself. The last thing he needed was to be hunted down by ANOTHER alien species with the intention to kill him. "I can't believe I did that..." His voice trailed off as he heard shouting. Ducking down, he sidled closer to the wall, watching the street before him. Four or five aliens sprinted down the street, one of them being the one he attacked earlier. He held his breath and silently crept further into the alley, looking for a way to escape. His amber eyes spotted a ladder leading to the roof of the building he was hiding behind and he gladly accepted that as a way out. Climbing it quickly, he crouched on the roof, creeping along the concrete-like material, barely peeking out over the edge to find the locations of his pursuers. The were scattered over the main street, scouring every nook and cranny they could find. As he backed away and glanced around for his next move, he hoped they were dumb enough not to look up the ladders.

Unsure of what to do, he sat down and decided to wait it out. Hopefully, if his patience would come through for him, they'd eventually give up on him for a more enticing trip to the bar.

"UP HERE!!!" His head snapped towards the voice that revealed his hideaway as he jumped to his feet. He made a run for the other edge of the building, only to come to a screeching halt as an alien appeared there. By the time he thought to turn and run he was surrounded. He crouched low, in a launching position, and watched the men that were closing in on him.

"Shit." He glanced at the five before launching at the more timber one, hoping that his tall and lanky form would make it easier to knock him back. Luckily for him his calculations were correct and he found himself sending the two of them tumbling off the side of the building. He let out a yelp as his shoulder blades connected with the edge right before they flew off, his hands outstretching to grasp whatever he could find that would break his fall. Nothing came to him and he hit the ground hard, gasping for air desperately for a few seconds.

Getting to his feet, he backed himself into the middle of the street, giving himself plenty of room to run if needed. The alien he knocked off the roof wasn't moving, surrounded by a puddle of what looked like purple blood. Sighing in slight relief, he sped off down the road, not daring to look back.


End file.
